


A Small Thing

by kaori



Category: Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:40:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26770780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaori/pseuds/kaori
Summary: Zack gets home late from a mission and finds Cloud tangled all up in his clothes.
Relationships: Zack Fair/Cloud Strife
Comments: 26
Kudos: 155





	A Small Thing

The moment his door slides open, Zack hears the screeches of what sounds like a dying animal. Body tensing and hands twitching towards his buster sword, he ventures cautiously toward the living room where the yowls quickly pitter out to pitiful whimpers. 

His brows knit together at the sight of Cloud's clothes all piled up in a heap on the couch—Cloud, the biggest neat freak Zack knows because no stray piece of clothing in his path ever remains unscathed from his folding frenzy. Stranger still, the armour doesn't look like it's been removed at all—and Zack has put in considerable thought to the feasibility of removing cadet pants while still keeping all those straps intact—verdict: it's not possible, but Zack still needs to test the theory to be absolutely sure. 

"What in the world..." 

Sudden movement from the clothing has Zack jumping with a start, brows raising with mild alarm when all the armour pieces shift atop what is unmistakably an animal in distress, the volume of the cries increasing in response to his voice. 

Zack quickly strides forward; props buster up against the couch as he crouches down in front of the pile, shifts the armour plating aside. Once he lifts up the shoulder guard with the tip of his finger, the bundle underneath scurries into the cleared area with surprising aggression. It doesn't get very far before encountering the blockade of leather straps. The yowling gets louder, angry even. Zack lifts the chest harness out of the way, enough for the lump to drill its way to the neckline of Cloud's jacket. 

Zack removes the heavy, green scarf to see a golden head of the tiniest kitten he's ever seen; entire body heaving with little gasping meows, blue eyes big and teary. There's no mistaking those eyes, that colouring of fur, and the fact that he was found inside Cloud's clothing. 

" _Cloud?_ " Zack can only stare as the kitten looks at him balefully, barely standing upright on tiny shaking feet. "Aww..." Zack feels his heart twisting; he's never seen such a cuter sight.

He earns a displeased growl, but the poor thing is trembling so much that it's the opposite of threatening. He's barely the size of Zack's hand, looking completely frazzled and defenceless; Zack wonders how long he's been caught inside the clothing, underneath all those giant pieces of armour.

Zack bends over to scoop up the little ball of fluff to hold up for closer inspection. He's all gold on top, the fur fading out to a shimmering yellow and mixing in with a shade that is not-quite-white by the time it transitions to his paws. The cat—undoubtedly Cloud—hisses in protest, claws extending and digging into Zack's hands, hind legs kicking out from the loss of stable ground. He's _adorable_ , Zack thinks as he keeps a secure hold on the squirming bundle—those claws are _sharp_. He feels small pinpricks, not enough to draw blood and not enough for Zack to blink twice at.

"Shhh, it's okay, I'm here now," Zack coos softly as he adjusts his grip so that he's cradling Cloud to his chest instead of dangling him mostly in the air. "What have you gotten yourself into this time, huh?" Zack rubs at the flickering ear, coos some more until Cloud calms down enough to retract his claws. Those blue kitty eyes are still narrowed in something that might've been an approximation of a glare, but they're too big and too round to be anywhere near effective. It's still unmistakably a signature Cloud Look.

"Hey, don't give me that look, the mission ran over time! How was I supposed to know you'd somehow turned yourself into a cat?" Zack moves out of his crouch and throws himself into a sprawl on the couch, mindful of his small, precious cargo. Zack runs one gentle finger over an ear, marvels as it flicks away from his touch. "How did you even manage this?" 

Cloud blinks at him, unimpressed.

"Right, silly of me." Zack slouches down further into the cushions and cups Cloud's tiny little head, rubbing behind his ear in gentle motions. His fur is so _soft_. "Think it's anything like Touch Me?" 

Cloud swats at his nose, claws still safely tucked away. 

"Well, I don't have a Maiden's Kiss handy..." Zack hums thoughtfully, looking down at Cloud who is still staring at him. He adjusts his grip, both arms circling around Cloud's feline body and god, he's so _tiny_ Zack is maybe losing his mind over how cute Cloud-the-kitten is. He brings Cloud up closer to his face, mindful to keep his hind legs still settled on Zack's chest. Cloud goes a bit cross-eyed, lets out a sad, grumbling noise.

"Hey, Cloud," Zack says with mock seriousness, "think I can pass for a maiden?" Not waiting for a response, Zack ducks his head down and places a loud smacking kiss on Cloud's tiny pink nose. 

Cloud goes absolutely still, blue slitted eyes wide, front legs dangling uselessly over Zack's hands. Even his tail has stopped moving.

Zack tilts his head to the side. "Is it working? Should I do it again?" He leans forward for another, but the paws batting at his lips stop him. 

"Aw, are you being shy? Was I your first kiss?" Zack laughs, ducks his head back when the claws snap back out.

Cloud growls.

"Okay, okay, okay." He drops Cloud back onto his chest, keeps one hand behind him so he doesn't roll off. "You're so cute, Cloud. How do you expect me to resist?"

Cloud latches his tiny claws into Zack's top, enough to dig into his skin.

Zack yelps and jerks upright, not because it hurts overly much, but because he wasn't expecting it. Cloud falls face first into his chest but Zack still has a hand supporting his back. 

"Hey." Zack jostles him sternly. "None of that, it's not my fault you're adorable." 

Cloud looks disgruntled, huffs a breath at him before hiding his face in Zack's chest. He does retract his claws. 

Definitely shy; Zack refrains from cooing again—that's enough embarrassment for Cloud for the time being. 

"I've never heard of anything turning people into cats." Zack scoots back into the wide seat of his couch and crosses his legs, gently deposits Cloud inside the safe barrier so he can reach over to begin pulling apart Cloud's uniform. 

Cloud lifts up onto his hind legs and tries to peer up over Zack's thigh; he's too small to see much of anything, drops back down in a huff as his ears flatten in displeasure. Zack can't suppress his amusement, chuckling softly and running another hand over Cloud's head. He applies a bit more pressure as he drags his palm down Cloud's back and towards the end of his tail. 

Cloud visibly shudders, but the tail curls around Zack's wrist. 

Zack keeps one hand on Cloud as he drags the top over, expertly unbuckling the leather straps one-handed. "Got any materia hiding in here? Are those wackos in weaponry messing around with cadets again?"

Cloud meows. It doesn't sound like agreement. 

"Hmm, anyone accost you on the way to my apartment?" 

Another meow in disagreement.

Zack shakes out the top but nothing falls loose. He pulls his other hand free from Cloud's tail and begins folding it up. Cloud's harassed him enough about leaving clothes laying about that it's ingrained when Cloud is around. Zack makes his way through every article of clothing but all he finds are a few loose coins of gil, Cloud's PHS and his access card. He sets them aside on his coffee table, mindful of the cat that had nestled himself by his ankle sometime during the inspection, absently batting at the laces on his boots. 

"Sorry, Cloudy, got nothing here." Zack glances mournfully at the clock in his living room. "It's late, no one's gonna be able to help us figure it out now. Maybe we just need to give it some time for it to wear off?" 

Cloud doesn't turn around, just plops his head down onto Zack's ankle and curls up into a tighter ball. He meows plaintively. 

It takes all of Zack's willpower to remember that Cloud is not a cat and he can't squish him to his chest and degenerate into nonsense baby talk just because he looks like one—Cloud would ignore him for at least a week for that. Zack's always had a weakness for cute, tiny things. Cloud the human had fallen into that category nicely (unfortunately for Cloud), but Cloud the kitten has Zack's heart in absolute knots trying to contain his excitement. For Cloud's sake, he tries to tamp down on revealing any of this when Cloud looks so downtrodden.

"You must be tired, huh?" Zack scritches him behind his fluffy golden ear, almost loses his mind entirely when Cloud begins purring. The sound cuts off abruptly when Cloud realises what he's doing, head swivelling to pin Zack with a look of great offence in his big round eyes. 

"Does that feel good?" Zack grins and attempts to give him a few more gentle rubs but Cloud jumps back to his feet, headbutting into Zack's hand in protest. When Zack tries to go in for another pat, Cloud nips at the offending finger. He doesn't bite hard enough to draw blood.

"Don't be like that," Zack pouts. "Might as well enjoy it while you're stuck, hey?" Zack reaches underneath him and scoops him up. Cloud fits nicely in his palm, legs dangling off the sides, expression twisted up with as much disgruntlement as his feline face can convey. Zack brings him closer and bumps noses with him; Cloud swipes at him half-heartedly. Zack sneaks in another ear rub, moving his hand out of the way quickly when Cloud's head follows as if to bite him again. "C'mon, isn't this a tiny bit fun?" 

Cloud only grumbles, turns his face away from Zack and closes his eyes to ignore him.

"Fine, fine," Zack sighs, nudging Cloud gently with his face. "It's already midnight; we should get to bed, get some rest. We'll figure this out tomorrow, okay?"

Cloud peaks open one eye, stares at him for a long moment before licking Zack on the nose. 

Zack laughs with startled surprise, not quite expecting the rough sandpaper tongue. 

Cloud makes no complaint when Zack deposits him onto his enormous pillow so he can change out of his uniform. Zack chuckles again, soft, when Cloud begins kneading at the pillow. 

When he's finally ready for bed, he sees Cloud dozing off on his pillow, just off-centre enough that he isn't hogging it all too himself—not that he could, with his size. Cloud startles awake when Zack settles under the covers, makes a small grumbling noise but doesn't resist when Zack finally gives into temptation to coo at him again, pets him from head to tail with a single finger. Cloud's eyes are bright, glowing a faint blue in the dark of Zack's room. They blink at Zack, slow and drowsy, hypnotic.

Zack whispers, serious, "I won't leave you like this, I promise."

Cloud trills, low and sweet, and closes his eyes.

Zack's bone tired from his mission, but the brief shower had perked him up enough that he spends the next few hours watching Cloud, gently running his fingers through Cloud's fur as he purrs in his sleep.


End file.
